Workers’ Compensation Settlement Reached for Man Who Allegedly Used Marijuana Before Accident
Mar 18, 2019
Charleston, SC (Law Firm Newswire) March 18, 2019 – Steinberg Law Firm is pleased to announce that attorneys Catie Meehan and David Pearlman recently settled a complicated workers’ compensation case for $3.85 million. The case involved a man who had allegedly used marijuana before an accident that left him severely injured.
Lead attorney Meehan says that her client was operating a truck owned by his employer sometime in the early morning hours when he was involved in a single truck accident. Emergency services had difficulty extricating the man from his truck after the accident; it took nearly three hours to get him out of the wreckage.
The man’s injuries were grievous. He sustained a traumatic brain injury and critical injuries to his spinal cord, kidney, lung, leg, ankle, foot, arm, hand, neck, back, gastrointestinal system, bladder and circulatory system. He was in the hospital for two months, half of that time spent in the intensive care unit. He underwent multiple surgeries.
Toxicology test results revealed the man had marijuana in his system at the time of the accident, and the defense claimed that this caused him to lose control of the truck. His workers’ compensation claim was denied.
“The defense put up a very strong intoxication defense, but we were able to reach a resolution,” Meehan said. “Our argument was that even though marijuana was found in his blood, they did not have the evidence that marijuana was the proximate cause of the wreck. The state trooper didn’t find any evidence of marijuana or paraphernalia or anything of that nature.”
Further complicating the case was the extreme complexity of estimating the man’s future medical costs and negotiating them on his behalf. He now requires home care from a caretaker.
Attorneys Meehan and Pearlman got their client a $3.85 million settlement.
“As a young attorney, I was very proud to reach this settlement for my client with the help of my partner,” said Meehan. “Our client will now have the potential to get the rehabilitative care he needs, and the best part for us is seeing the progress he has already made.”
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